Attachment for mouth actuated touch screens

ABSTRACT

An attachment for a smart device having a touch screen displaying at least one interactive area thereon includes at least one port defining an air passageway therethrough and at least one actuator element disposed at least partially within the air passageway of each of the at least one ports. Each of the at least one actuator elements is configured to actuate upon a flow of air passing through the corresponding air passageway. Actuation of each of the at least one actuator elements causes an electrical interaction with one of the interactive areas of the touch screen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser.No. 16/880,510 filed on May 21, 2020, which in turn claims priority toU.S. Provisional patent Application Ser. No. 62/852,392 filed on May 24,2019, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a touch screen deviceattachment, and more particularly, to a mouth actuated touch-screendevice attachment that may function similarly to a harmonica or similarmusical instruments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As a type of musical instrument, the harmonica is one of the oldestforms of musical expression in the world. Musical tones are producedthrough the utilization of a harmonica by a user either blowing ordrawing air into the harmonica.

A once novel method of human interaction with technology, a touch screenis now one of the most common attributes technological devices possess.The touch screen is commonly found as a feature with cellular mobiledevices, primarily within what is referred to as a smart phone or smartdevice. Considering that 36% of the entire world population owns a smartphone, the demand for attachments to enhance smart phones have becomeincreasingly popular.

The operation of the smart phone is constantly evolving, where apopularly developed capability is the utilization of softwareapplications configured for completing specialized tasks. With this inmind, a mouth actuated attachment for a touch screen device is withinthe range of possibility. Thus, a mouth actuated attachment for a touchscreen has been invented allowing the user to combine musical interestsadaptively rendered to befit the advantages touch screen devices mayoffer. Particularly, one advantage would be the pairing of the mouthactuated attachment with a mobile application providing morefunctionality to the attachment than it would have while beingtraditionally operated.

One obstacle in playing the harmonica is that it can be considereddistracting to others who are disinterested in hearing the audible tuneit produces. Thus, it is highly desirable to provide a mouth actuatedattachment for touch screens that allows for the user to operate theharmonica in a manner where the tune would be only audible to the user.The ability to play the harmonica in a manner which is only audible tothe user is provided by pairing a mouth actuated attachment with a touchscreen, wherein headphones may be utilized so the tune may be heard onlyby the user. In addition, specialized software adapted for use with themouth actuated attachment can provide unique musical features by accessto MIDI sound font libraries, synthesizer features, and correspondenceto smart device movement tracking devices such as accelerometers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In concordance and agreement with the present invention, a new mouthactuated touch screen attachment has surprisingly been discovered.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an attachment for asmart device having a touch screen displaying at least one interactivearea thereon includes at least one port defining an air passagewaytherethrough and at least one actuator element disposed at leastpartially within the air passageway of each of the at least one ports.Each of the at least one actuator elements is configured to actuate upona flow of air passing through the corresponding air passageway.Actuation of each of the at least one actuator elements causes anelectrical interaction with one of the interactive areas of the touchscreen. The attachment may also include one or more feature buttonsconfigured for hand actuation by the operator of the attachment, therebyallowing for a secondary input method for interacting with theattachment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned, and other features and objects of the inventions,and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and theinvention itself will be better understood by reference to the followingdescription of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mouth activated attachment accordingto an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional bottom view of the attachment of FIG. 1 astaken from the perspective of section lines 2-2 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevational front view of a smart device having a touchscreen configured for use with the attachment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevational view through one of the ports ofthe attachment of FIG. 1 as taken from the perspective of section lines4-4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional elevational view through the port of theattachment as shown in FIG. 4 during interaction with an interactivearea of a corresponding touch screen as caused by a blow action of anoperator;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional elevational view through the port of theattachment as shown in FIG. 4 during interaction with an interactivearea of the touch screen as caused by a draw action of the operator;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional elevational view through a port of anattachment according to another embodiment of the invention, wherein theattachment includes a modified actuator configuration;

FIG. 8 is a bottom plan view of a port of an attachment according toanother embodiment of the invention, wherein the port includes a pair ofengaging components extending through a sidewall of the port;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the attachment of FIG. 8as taken through one of the ports of the attachment having the pair ofthe engaging components;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional elevational view through the port of theattachment as shown in FIG. 9 during interaction with an interactivearea of a corresponding touch screen as caused by a blow action of anoperator;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional elevational view through the port of theattachment as shown in FIG. 9 during interaction with an interactivearea of the touch screen as caused by a draw action of the operator;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional elevational view taken through a port of anattachment according to another embodiment of the present invention,wherein the port includes an actuator formed as a stretchable diaphragm;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional elevational view through the port of theattachment as shown in FIG. 12 during interaction with an interactivearea of a corresponding touch screen as caused by a blow action of anoperator; and

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional elevational view through the port of theattachment as shown in FIG. 12 during interaction with an interactivearea of the touch screen as caused by a draw action of the operator.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following detailed description and appended drawings describe andillustrate various exemplary embodiments of the invention. Thedescription and drawings serve to enable one skilled in the art to make,and use the invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention in any manner. With respect to the methods disclosed, thesteps presented are exemplary in nature, and thus, the order of thesteps is not necessary or critical.

The present invention relates to an attachment for use with touch screendevices such as for mobile phones and tablets, for example. However, thepresent disclosure can apply to other types of touch screens for use inother applications, as desired. The attachment for touch screensaccording to the disclosure is mouth actuated and designed to beutilized harmonically within the construct of a harmonica specifically.However, it is understood that the disclosed attachment for touchscreens may be utilized in any manner while being constructed to conformto any shape.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 4-6 illustrate an attachment 10 according to a firstembodiment of the present invention. The attachment 10 as shown anddescribed is configured for use with an exemplary smart device 1generally having a touch screen 2, as shown in FIG. 3, as well as aprocessor, a memory, a speaker, and any necessary communication ports orcommunication mechanisms. The communication ports or communicationmechanisms may be configured for direct connection to external devices(such as headphones, external speakers, routers, or other smart devices)or may be configured for wireless communication with externally providedsmart devices, routers, speakers, or the like. The memory may be used tostore any instruction sets for processing by the processor as well asany data collected during the use of the attachment 10. The memory maybe further configured for storing any applications that are compatiblewith the associated smart device 1 and configured for use with theattachment 10. Such applications may, for example, be available viadownload from other smart devices or from the internet and may beconfigured for storage to the memory of the smart device 1. Suchapplications may be configured for use with a variety of differentconfigurations and dimensions of the associated touch screen 2 dependingon the brand, dimensions, and type of touch screen utilized.

The touch screen 2 of the smart device 1 forms a user interface thereoffor viewing content associated with the application instantaneouslybeing run by the smart device 1 as well as allowing for user interactionwith the smart device 1. In the present examples, the touch screen 2 mayutilize capacitive touch interaction methods for forming interactionsbetween the attachment 10 and the touch screen 2, as desired. However,with respect to certain embodiments resulting in direct contact with thetouch screen 2, it may also be possible to utilize a resistive touchinteraction method for forming interactions between the attachment 10and the touch screen 2.

FIG. 3 shows the touch screen 2 as having an array of interactive areas3 formed thereon with each of the interactive areas 3 corresponding to aportion of the touch screen 2 preselected to cause the smart device 1 toreact in a preselected manner upon an interaction therewith. Theinteractive areas 3 may be associated with the instantaneous applicationbeing run by the smart device 1 with the interactive areas 3 clearlymarked and segregated from each other with respect to the touch screen2. In the provided example, the touch screen 2 includes a numbered setof the interactive areas 3 having two columns and twelve rows as well asa lettered row of three of the interactive areas 3 disposed adjacent thehighest numbered ones of the numbered set of the interactive areas 3.The numbered set is labeled as areas 1-24 (one even number and one oddnumber per row) while the lettered set is labeled as areas A-C (in asingle horizontal row). As will become apparent upon further review ofthe present patent application, each of the interactive areas 3 as shownand described is positioned to correspond to a user actuated componentof the attachment 10 to allow for the user to selectively interact withthe different interactive areas 3 via use of the attachment 10. Theillustrated array of the combination of the numbered and letteredinteraction areas 3 is merely exemplary in nature for illustrating themethod of use of the present invention and should not be consideredlimiting.

The smart device 1 may further include components suitable fordetermining a position, an orientation, or a relative motion of thesmart device 1 during use of the attachment 10. For example, suchcomponents may include accelerometers, gyroscopes, or the like, as areknown to be present in such smart devices 1. These components may beconfigured to determine aspects of the smart device 1 such as ininclination of the smart device 1 relative to the horizon, a degree oftranslation of the smart device 1, an instantaneous translationalvelocity of the smart device 1, an instantaneous angular velocity of thesmart device 1, a degree or rotational motion of the smart device 1, orthe like. For example, the smart device 1 may be configured to determinea degree at which the smart device 1 has been tilted relative to anoriginal orientation thereof along any of three different axes or adegree at which the smart device 1 has been translated relative to anoriginal position thereof along any of three different axes, whereineach of the aforementioned axes may be reference axes measured relativeto the horizon or relative to an initial position/orientation of thesmart device 1.

The attachment 10 is comprised of a port assembly 12 including aplurality of ports 20 arranged in a rectilinear side-by-side array. Eachof the ports 20 includes an air passageway 40 formed therethrough witheach of the air passageways 40 extending from an open first end 21 to anopen second end 22 of each of the ports 20. The ports 20 and thecorresponding air passageways 40 are all shown as including asubstantially rectangular, square, or rounded-rectangularcross-sectional shape, but one skilled in the art should understood thatthe present invention may be adapted to port configurations includingalternative cross-sectional shapes without necessarily departing fromthe scope of the present invention, including circular, semi-circular,triangular, elliptical, or semi-elliptical cross-sectional shapes, asdesired. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the air passageways 40is defined by four sidewalls arranged into the square, rectangular, orrounded-rectangular shape, wherein the four sidewalls include a firstsidewall 31, a second sidewall 32 disposed opposite the first sidewall31 and arranged parallel thereto, a third sidewall 33 connecting thefirst sidewall 31 to the second sidewall 32, and a fourth sidewall 34also connecting the first sidewall 31 to the second sidewall 32 oppositethe third sidewall 33. As used hereinafter, the first sidewall 31 refersto the sidewall disposed adjacent the touch screen 2 of thecorresponding smart device 1 while the second sidewall 32 refers to thesidewall spaced from the touch screen 2 of the smart device 1 oppositethe associated first sidewall 31. Regardless of the shape orconfiguration of each of the ports 20, the ports 20 necessarily mustinclude the first sidewall 31 having an outwardly facing surfaceadjacent and generally facing towards the touch screen 2 of the smartdevice 1 when the smart device 1 is positioned relative to theattachment 10 as described hereinafter.

The rectilinear array of the ports 20 as illustrated includes all of thefirst sidewalls 31 of the ports 20 disposed in a co-planar arrangementand all of the second sidewalls 32 of the ports 20 similarly disposed ina co-planar arrangement. Additionally, all of the first ends 21 arearranged in axial alignment with each other in a co-planar arrangementwhile all of the second ends 22 are similarly arranged in axialalignment with each other in a co-planar arrangement. The attachment 10may accordingly include a substantially rectangular cuboid shape witheach of the ports 20 individually including an elongated rectangularcuboid shape. The shape of the attachment 10 and the configuration ofthe ports 20 may be provided to emulate a musical instrument such as aharmonica, as desired.

The four different sidewalls 31, 32, 33, 34 may be assembled using anycombination of elements, as desired. For example, the third and fourthsidewalls 33, 34 may each extend from the second sidewall 32 in asubstantially comb-like structure with the first sidewall 31 forming acap element received at the free ends of the third and fourth sidewalls33, 34 spaced apart from the common second sidewall 32, or the third andfourth sidewalls 33, 34 may each extend from the first sidewall 31 in asubstantially comb-like structure with the second sidewall 32 forming acap element received at the free ends of the third and fourth sidewalls33, 34 spaced apart from the common first sidewall 31. In such aconfiguration, the third sidewall 33 of each of the ports 20 may alsoform the fourth sidewall 34 of a correspondingly adjacent one of theports 20 throughout the array of the ports 20, as desired.

Alternatively, each of the ports 20 may be provided as including thesquare or rectangular cross-section shape with the ports 20 arrangedside-by-side and coupled to each other at the adjoining third and fourthsidewalls 33, 34 to form the rectilinear array of the ports 20. Theports 20 of such an assembly may be formed by extruding the desiredcross-sectional shape in the longitudinal direction of each of the ports20 before subsequently coupling the ports 20 in the manner described.

Furthermore, in other embodiments, the entirety of the port assembly 12may be molded or otherwise formed in a common manufacturing process.Such a molding process may include each of the air passageways 40provided as a projection within a corresponding mold with the projectionextending between surrounding voids forming the cooperating sidewalls31, 32, 33, 34.

However, any manufacturing method may be utilized to form the ports 20into any the configurations disclosed hereinafter without necessarilydeparting from the scope of the present invention. One skilled in theart will also appreciate that any combination of structural elements maybe used for forming the port assembly 12 without necessarily departingfrom the scope of the present invention so long as each of the ports 20includes the relevant relationships disclosed hereinafter for allowingthe attachment 10 to interact with the corresponding touch screen 2 viathe passage of air through the air passageways 40 in either of twoopposing longitudinal directions of each of the ports 20. The sidewalls31, 32, 33, 34 defining each of the air passageways 40 may be formedfrom substantially any rigid material, as desired, such as a moldableplastic material.

The port assembly 12 is shown as including twelve of the ports 20arranged in the rectilinear array, but any number of the ports 20 may beprovided in the illustrated side-by-side configuration without departingfrom the scope of the present invention. The number of the ports 20provided in any given port assembly 12 may correspond to the number ofdifferent inputs capable of being actuated using the port assembly 12.For example, if the port assembly 12 is utilized for a harmonica typeapplication as described in greater detail hereinafter, the number ofthe ports 20 may correspond to a desired number of different notesplayable using the port assembly 12, wherein each of the ports 20corresponds to two of the different notes (one note corresponding to ablow action and the other of the notes corresponding to a draw actionwith respect to each of the air passageways 40). As another non-limitingexample, the port assembly 12 may include a desired number of ports 20for corresponding to a desired communication protocol or language, suchas each of the ports 20 corresponding to two different letters of agiven alphabet or the like in order to utilize the port assembly 12 as amouth actuated keyboard. One skilled in the art should appreciate thatthe attachment 10 and the associated smart device 1 may be utilized fora variety of different applications in addition to those mentionedherein following a more thorough description of the method of usethereof hereinafter.

As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the attachment 10 includes a locating feature6 depending from the port assembly 12 for locating the smart device 1 ata desired position and orientation relative to the port assembly 12. Inthe provided embodiment, the locating feature 6 is provided as asleeve-like structure configured to hold the associated smart device 1with the touch screen 2 thereof facing in a direction towards the firstsidewall 31 of each of the ports 20 forming the port assembly 12. Thelocating feature 6 is shown as including as a U-shaped wall extendingfrom an open end of the locating feature 6 to a closed end thereof asformed by an end wall of the locating feature 6 disposed adjacent thesecond end 22 of each of the ports 20. The U-shaped wall and the endwall may cooperate to define an opening 7 configured for reception ofthe smart device 1 therein. A side surface of the smart device 1 may beinitially received into the opening 7 through the open end of thelocating feature 6 with the smart device 1 slid into the opening 7 untilthe corresponding side surface if placed in abutment with the closed endof the locating feature 6 as formed by the end wall. In otherembodiments, the locating feature 6 may be hinged along the end wall ata position adjacent the second end 22 of each of the ports 20 to allowfor the locating feature 6 to pivot to a position wherein the open endof U-shaped wall is spaced apart from the underside of the port assembly12. The smart device 1 is then able to be easily positioned within theopening 7 before then pivoting the locating feature 6 back to theposition illustrated in FIG. 1 with the touch screen 2 facing towardsthe underside of the port assembly 12.

In the illustrated embodiment, the locating feature 6 is shown as havinga preselected shape and size that is complimentary to the smart device 1to position the touch screen 2 at a desired position relative to theport assembly 12 wherein each of the interactive areas 3 provided on thetouch screen 2 is provided at a preselected and desired positionrelative to the port assembly 12 to allow for the attachment 10 tointeract with the touch screen 2 in a predictable and desired manner.However, the locating feature 6 may alternatively be provided to beadjustable to accommodate various different sizes and shapes of smartdevices to render the attachment 10 as being adaptable for use with avariety of different smart devices. For example, the different sidewallsforming the U-shape or the end wall may each be adjustable to change thecross-sectional shape of the opening 7 along various axes to properlyplace the touch screen 2 relative to the port assembly 12 regardless ofthe type of smart device 1 used. The locating feature 6 is shown asextending across about half a width of the corresponding smart device 1,but the locating feature 6 may have any width relative to the smartdevice 1 necessary for affixing a position of the smart device 1relative to the port assembly 12.

Although not pictured, the opening 7 may include one or more resilientpads or the like disposed therein for biasing the smart device 1 indesired directions in order to secure the smart device 1 within theopening 7 during use of the attachment 10. For example, such a resilientpad may be disposed on the centrally disposed sidewall of the U-shapedwall for biasing the smart device 1 in a direction towards the portassembly 12 via compression of the resilient pad following insertion ofthe smart device 1 into the opening 7. The locating feature 6 mayfurther include any desired locking features or the like for maintainingthe position of the smart device 1 within the locating feature 6. Forexample, the locating feature 6 may include mechanisms for adjusting anyof the walls forming the locating feature 6 in the same manner describedabove for adjusting the size and shape of the opening 7 to accommodatedifferent smart devices, wherein the adjusting of the walls is used tocompress the smart device 1 to prevent undesired removal of the smartdevice 1 from the locating feature 6. If the aforementioned hingedlocating feature 6 configuration is utilized, the locking feature may bea swing gate or the like disposed on the end wall of the locatingfeature 6 with the swing gate configured to selectively engage thesecond end 22 of at least one of the ports 20 in a manner preventing anundesired pivoting of the locating feature 6 to the open positionnormally utilized for receiving the smart device 1 therein.

The locating feature 6 may be any type of locating feature 6 configuredfor affixing the position of the smart device 1 relative to the portassembly 12 without departing from the scope of the present invention.For example, the locating feature may be provided as any number ofstraps, elastic bands, sleeves, or the like suitable for reception ofthe smart device 1 therein, as desired. Additionally, the operator ofthe attachment 10 may also hand position the attachment relative to thetouch screen 2 in the absence of a locating feature, as desired, whilestill maintaining the desired methods of operation of the attachment 10as described hereinafter.

The embodiment of the attachment 10 shown in FIGS. 1-6 includes a pairof actuators 50, 60 associated with each of the ports 20 of the portassembly 12. Each of the pair of the actuators 50, 60 of one of theports 20 is configured to electrically interact with one of the twointeractive areas 3 associated with each of the rows of the numberedinteractive areas 3 as shown in FIG. 3. As such, the twelve differentports 20 of the port assembly 12 are able to electrically interact withall 24 of the numbered interactive areas 3 of the illustrated embodimentof the application running on the smart device 1 via selectiveinteraction of the operator of the attachment 10 with one or more of theports 20.

One of the ports 20 is shown throughout FIGS. 4-6 for disclosing amethod of operation of the attachment 10. The smart device 1 is shown asbeing received within the opening 7 of the locating feature 6 in each ofthe FIGS. 5 and 6 to illustrate how each of the different actuators 50,60 electrically interacts with one of the specified interactive areas 3of the touch screen 2 via direct engagement therewith. Each of theactuators 50, 60 is formed from an electrically conductive materialcapable of conducting an electrical charge associated with the operatorof the attachment 10 to the preselected one of the interactive areas 3for causing a localized disturbance in the capacitance of the touchscreen 2. As is common in smart devices 1 such as those configured foruse with the attachment 10, the localized disturbance in the capacitanceof the touch screen 2 at each of the preselected locations isinterpreted by the smart device 1 as a user initiated selection insimilar fashion to the touching of the touch screen 2 by a finger of theoperator (or a touch screen compatible stylus or the like). Each of theactuators 50, 60 is also formed from a flexible material having aresiliency suitable for each of the actuators 50, 60 to spring back toan original configuration thereof following an elastic deformation ofthe each of the actuators 50, 60 during use of the attachment 10. Eachof the actuators 50, 60 may accordingly be formed from an electricallyconductive and resilient metallic material such as brass or carbonsteel, but other materials having the above described characteristicsmay also be utilized without departing from the scope of the presentinvention, including suitable non-metallic materials.

The actuator 50 is configured to actuate when the operator of theattachment 10 causes air to pass through the air passageway 40 in adirection from the first end 21 toward the second end 22 of thecorresponding port 20 (left-to-right from the perspective of FIGS. 4-6).Such an air movement is typically caused by the operator placing his orher mouth in abutment with the first end 21 of the desired port 20 andblowing through the air passageway 40. The actuator 50 may accordinglybe referred to as the blow actuator 50 hereinafter. In contrast, theactuator 60 is configured to actuate when the operator of the attachment10 causes air to pass through the air passageway 40 in a direction fromthe second end 22 toward the first end 21 of the corresponding port 20(right-to-left from the perspective of FIGS. 4-6). Such an air movementis typically caused by the operator placing his or her mouth in abutmentwith the first end 21 of the desired port 20 and suctioning or otherwisedrawing air through the air passageway 40. The actuator 60 mayaccordingly be referred to as the draw actuator 60 hereinafter.

In the present embodiment, each of the actuators 50, 60 is provided as astrip of material originally including a substantially rectangularperimeter shape defining each of a longitudinal dimension and a widthdimension of the strip of material. Each of the strips of materialfurther includes a thickness dimension that is significantly smallerthan the width dimension thereof or the longitudinal dimension thereof.As a result of the general shape and configuration of each of theactuators 50, 60, each of the actuators 50, 60 may alternatively bereferred to as flex reeds, as desired.

The blow actuator 50 is formed into a substantially L-shapedconfiguration as the blow actuator 50 extends from a first end 51 to anopposing second end 52 thereof. The L-shaped configuration divides theblow actuator 50 into a first segment 53 including the first end 51thereof and a second segment 54 including the second end 54 thereof. Thefirst segment 53 and the second segment 54 are bent relative to eachother to cause the second segment 54 to be arranged transverse to thefirst segment 53. In the illustrated embodiment, the second segment 54is arranged perpendicular to the first segment 53, but alternativetransverse arrangements may be utilized without necessarily departingfrom the scope of the present invention. An outside corner of the blowactuator 50 formed at the bend present between the two segments 53, 54forms a contact surface 55 of the blow actuator 50, wherein the contactsurface 55 refers to a portion of the blow actuator 50 configured todirectly engage the corresponding interaction area 3 provided on thetouch screen 2 and in facing relationship with the blow actuator 50 whenthe smart device 1 is properly installed into the locating feature 6 ofthe attachment 10.

The first segment 53 of the blow actuator 50 includes an affixed portion56 and a free portion 57 that are separated from each other by a pivotaxis 58. The affixed portion 56 is affixed to the port 20 and remainsstationary during actuation of the blow actuator 50. In contrast, thefree portion 57 is configured to flex relative to the port 20 with theflexing of the free portion 57 beginning at the pivot axis 58. Dependingon the flexibility of the material provided for forming the blowactuator 50, the pivot axis 58 may correspond to a point at which thefree portion 57 pivots about the pivot axis 58 while maintaining asubstantially constant rectilinear shape or the pivot axis 58 maycorrespond to a point at which the free portion 57 begin to flexarcuately towards the touch screen 2 during actuation of the blowactuator 50. The free portion 57 is illustrated as having asubstantially constant rectilinear shape in FIG. 5 during the flexingthereof relative to the pivot axis 58, but either form of the flexing ofthe free portion 57 may be present in the blow actuator 50 whileremaining within the scope of the present invention.

The affixed portion 56 of the blow actuator 50 is placed into directcontact with a conductive element 70 associated with the port assembly12. The conductive element 70 is configured to electrically conductivelyconnect the blow actuator 50 to the hands and/or mouth of the operatorof the attachment 10 to aid in disturbing the capacitance of the touchscreen 2 when the blow actuator 50 is placed in contact therewith. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the conductive element 70 is shown as astrip of electrically conductive material that extends around the portassembly 12. An inner disposed portion of the conductive element 70 isplaced into contact with the affixed portion 56 of each of the spacedapart blow actuators 50 of the port assembly 12 while an outer disposedportion of the conductive element 70 is exposed for contact with theuser on an exposed surface of the second sidewall 32. The embodiment ofthe attachment 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 may be suitable for the hands ofthe operator to make the direct contact with the conductive element 70to allow for the electric charge of the operator to be conducted to eachof the blow actuators 50 of the port assembly 12 simultaneously. Inother embodiments, the conductive element 70 may further wrap around thefirst end 21 of each of the ports 20 to allow for the mouth of theoperator to make the direct contact therewith, thereby eliminating theneed for the hands of the operator to conduct the electric charge to theblow actuator 50. One skilled in the art should appreciate that anyconfiguration of the conductive element 70 through or around the portassembly 12 for providing the electrically conductive contact with theoperator as well as each of the blow actuators 50 may be utilizedwithout necessarily departing from the scope of the present invention,so long as the electric charge normally present within the operator isable to be electrically communicated to each of the blow actuators 50during normal use of the attachment 10. The conductive element 70 may beformed from an electrically conductive metallic material such as brassor carbon steel, as non-limiting examples.

The conductive element 70 may be provided as an electrically conductiveand flexible tape adhered to the corresponding portions of theattachment 10 or the conductive element 70 may be formed from a rigidstructure bent to the desired configuration for engaging thecorresponding electrically conductive components of the attachment 10.The conductive element 70 may also be formed from a plurality ofdifferent components all placed into electrically conductive contactwith each other while forming the electrically conductive path betweenthe operator and each of the blow actuators 50.

The draw actuator 60 includes substantially the same configuration asthe blow actuator 50 and extends from a first end 61 to a second end 62thereof while also divided into a first segment 63 and a transverselyarranged second segment 64 bent to form a contact surface 65 at anexterior corner thereof. The draw actuator 60 further includes anaffixed portion 66 and a free portion 67 that are separated from eachother by a pivot axis 68.

The affixed portion 66 of the draw actuator 60 is also placed intocontact with a conductive element 72 in similar fashion to the blowactuator 50, wherein the conductive element 72 is similarly wrappedaround the port assembly 12 for being placed in electrically conductivecontact with each of the draw actuators 60 adjacent the second end 22 ofeach of the ports 20 while also exposed for contact with the hand orhands of the operator. In the present embodiment, the conductive element72 is shown as being separated from the conductive element 70 in amanner requiring independent contact of the operator with each of theconductive elements 70, 72 to ensure that the electrical current of theoperator is carried to each of the separated actuators 50, 60. However,in other embodiments, the conductive elements 70, 72 may instead beconnected to each other or formed from one continuous conductive elementthat is placed into electrically conductive contact with each of theaffixed portions 56, 66 of all of the actuators 50, 60 simultaneously.For example, the common conductive element may be disposed along anentirety of the outer surface of the second sidewall 32 to ensure thatadequate electrically conductive contact is established between theoperator and each of the actuators 50, 60 regardless of the position ofthe hands of the operator around the port assembly 12. The conductiveelement 72 may be formed from the same materials and may take on thesame configurations as those described with reference to the conductiveelement 70 if the conductive elements 70, 72 are provided independentlyand separated from each other as illustrated.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 4, the attachment 10 further includes a capplate 15 that engages an outwardly facing surface of the first sidewall31 in order to form an outermost portion of the attachment 10 facingdirectly towards the touch screen 2 of the smart device 1. The cap plate15 includes a centrally located indented portion 16 having a smallerthickness than the outwardly disposed end portions of the cap plate 15.The cap plate 15 includes a plurality of apertures 17 formed within theindented portion 16 thereof with each of the apertures 17 correspondingto one of the air passageways 40 formed through one of the ports 20, asbest shown in FIG. 2. Each of the apertures 17 extends longitudinally inthe longitudinal direction of the corresponding port 20 and forms aspace through which each of the actuators 50, 60 can flex when beingactuated to a position for contacting the desired interaction areas 3 ofthe touch screen 2.

The first sidewall 31 of each of the ports 20 further includes anopening 37 formed therethrough and configured for alignment with one ofthe apertures 17 formed through the cap plate 15. Each of the openings37 may have the same width as each of the corresponding and alignedapertures 17 and may be centrally located relative to each of thecorresponding and aligned apertures 17. The formation of the indentedportion 16 into the cap plate 15 results in a space being presentbetween each of the apertures 17 and each of the corresponding andaligned openings 37 with respect to the height direction of each of theports 20 as measured in a direction between the first and secondsidewalls 31, 32 thereof.

The affixed portions 56, 66 of the actuators 50, 60 may be affixed intoplace via a sandwiching of each the affixed portions 56, 66 between aninwardly facing surface of each of the end portions of the cap plate 15straddling the indented portion 16 and the outwardly facing surface ofthe first sidewall 31, wherein each of the pivot axes 58, 68 are formedby opposing shoulders of the cap plate 15 formed at the ends of theindented portion 16 with respect to the longitudinal direction of eachof the ports 20. The affixed portion 56 of the blow actuator 50 isaccordingly positioned adjacent the first end 21 of the correspondingport 20 while the affixed portion 66 of the draw actuator 60 is disposedadjacent the second end 22 of the corresponding port 20. Each of theconductive elements 70, 72 may similarly be sandwiched between the endportions of the cap plate 15 and the outwardly facing surface of thefirst sidewall 31 to maintain the conductive contact between theconductive elements 70, 72 and the corresponding actuators 50, 60. Theinwardly facing surface of each of the end portions of the cap plate 15may include a shape corresponding to the stacked configuration of theadjoining conductive elements 70, 72 and actuators 50, 60, as desired,to more easily locate each of the features relative to each other. Anopposing outwardly facing surface of the cap plate 15 may be provided assubstantially planar in configuration to allow for the outwardly facingsurface to abut the touch screen 2 without risking scratching or otherdamage thereto. The cap plate 15 is further formed from an electricallynon-conductive material to prevent an undesired electrical interactionwith the touch screen 2 during use of the attachment 10. The cap plate15 may be formed from a rigid material such as plastic.

The blow actuator 50 is arranged within the attachment 10 with the firstsegment 53 thereof extending parallel to the longitudinal direction ofthe corresponding port 20 while disposed between the outwardly facingsurface of the first sidewall 31 and the inwardly facing surface of thecap plate 15. The second segment 54 extends transversely from the firstsegment 54 to extend through the corresponding opening 37 formed throughthe first sidewall 31 of the respective port 20. The opening 37 includesa smaller length in the longitudinal direction of the corresponding port20 than does the adjacent aperture 17 formed through the cap plate 15 toprevent undesired air leakage outside of the corresponding airpassageway 40. Each of the apertures 17 and each of the openings 37include a width slightly greater than that of each of the actuators 50,60 to allow for passage of the actuators 50, 60 therethrough when flexedto the positions shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 without allowing undesired airleakage from the corresponding air passageway 40.

The second segment 54 extends through the opening 37 to be arrangedtransverse to the direction of air flow through the corresponding airpassageway 40 with the second end 52 of the blow actuator arranged 50arranged adjacent the second sidewall 32. The second segment 54 mayinclude a length dimension measured from the bend formed in the blowactuator 50 and a width measured perpendicular to the length dimensionthat occupies a majority of the cross-sectional flow area of thecorresponding air passageway 40. The contact surface 55 is arrangedimmediately adjacent the underlying one of the interaction areas 3 towhich the blow actuator 50 is intended to interact with during actuationof the blow actuator 50.

The draw actuator 60 includes substantially an identical configurationas the blow actuator 50 while arranged symmetrically thereto withrespect to a plane arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal directionof the corresponding port 20. The aforementioned plane of symmetry isalso arranged to coincide with the division of each of the rows of theinteractive areas 3 into the two adjacent ones of the interactive areas3 (division between the odd and even numbered interactive areas 3 in theexample of FIG. 3). The first segment 63 of the draw actuator 60accordingly extends in parallel between the first sidewall 31 and thecap element 15 while the second segment 64 extends transverselytherefrom through the corresponding one of the openings 37 formed in thefirst sidewall 31 with the contact surface 65 arranged immediatelyadjacent the desired one of the interaction areas 3 to which the drawactuator 60 is intended to interact with during actuation of the drawactuator 60. The second segment 64 also occupies a majority of thecross-sectional flow area through the corresponding air passageway 40opposite the second segment 54 of the blow actuator 50.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2, the attachment 10 may also include afeature housing 80 disposed adjacent one of the outermost ports 20forming the port assembly 12. The feature housing 80 of the illustratedembodiment of the attachment 10 includes three feature buttons 81 spacedapart from each other with respect to the longitudinal direction of eachof the ports 20. As can be seen by comparison of FIGS. 2 and 3, aflipping of the smart device 1 about a horizontal axis extending througha center of the smart device 1 from the perspective of FIG. 3 results inthe three lettered interaction areas 3 disposed at the end of thenumbered array being placed in alignment with the three feature buttons81 when the smart device 1 is received within the locating feature 6 atan orientation with the touch screen 2 facing towards the underside ofeach of the port assembly 12 and the feature housing 80 as shown fromthe perspective of FIG. 2. The illustrated embodiment of the attachment10 includes the feature housing 80 and the corresponding feature buttons81 as being disposed to a right-hand side of the port assembly 12 whenthe attachment 10 is held in the hands of the operator from theperspective of FIG. 1, thereby requiring the actuation of the featurebuttons 81 to be accomplished using the fingers or thumb of the righthand of the operator. However, it will be readily apparent to oneskilled in the art that the feature housing 80 may be flipped toalternatively be arranged on the left-hand side of the port assembly 12to allow for actuation of the corresponding feature buttons 81 with thefingers or thumb of the left hand of the operator, as desired.Additionally, it should also be clear that the feature housings 80 andthe corresponding feature buttons 81 may be included on both theleft-hand side and the right-hand side of the port assembly 12 to allowfor both of the hands of the operator to actuate the opposing featurebuttons 81. Furthermore, the use of three of the feature buttons 81aligned in a rectilinear array as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is merelyexemplary, as any number of the feature buttons 81 in any desiredconfiguration of the feature buttons 81 may be utilized while remainingwithin the scope of the present invention. It should be understood thatany of the above described variations of the feature housings 80 andcorresponding feature buttons 81 from those illustrated requires acorresponding modification of the layout of the interactive areas 3displayed on the touch screen 2 in comparison to that shown in FIG. 3.For example, the configuration of the touch screen 2 as shown in FIG. 3may include an additional row of the interactive areas 3 above the “1”and “2” numbered interactive areas 3 to accommodate a left-handed set ofthe feature buttons 81 in addition to the currently disclosedright-handed set of the feature buttons 81.

The feature buttons 81 may have a variety of different structuralconfigurations while remaining within the scope of the presentinvention, so long as the feature buttons 81 are able to selectivelyinteract with the underlying interactive areas 3 of the touch screen 2via a localized disturbance of the capacitance of the touch screen 2. Inone embodiment, each of the feature buttons 81 is spring loaded tonormally project outwardly from a plane defined by an upper surface ofthe feature housing 80 from the perspective of FIG. 1, wherein thefingers of the operator selectively push each of the feature buttons 81against the urging of the spring to cause a shaft or rod-like structureforming each of the feature buttons 81 to move downwardly towards thetouch screen 2 through a corresponding opening formed through thefeature housing 80. Each of the shaft or rod-like structures may beprovided to be electrically conductive to allow for the electric chargeoriginating from the operator to be transferred to the touch screen 2through the corresponding one of the shaft or rod-like structures toelectrically interact with the underlying one of the interactive areas3.

In other embodiments, each of the feature buttons 81 may include anelectrically conductive engaging portion that is configured tocontinuously engage the touch screen 2 at all times when the smartdevice 1 is received within the locating feature 6 of the attachment 10.Each of the engaging portions may be formed from an electricallyconductive elastomeric material such as those utilized within the tipsof commercially available styluses normally configured for use withcapacitive touch screens. Each of the engaging portions may be spacedapart from a corresponding spring-loaded button portion of each of thefeature buttons 81 with respect to an axial direction thereof, whereineach of the spring-loaded button portions projects outwardly from thefeature housing 80 in the same fashion as illustrated in FIG. 1.Accordingly, a depression of one of the spring-loaded button portionsmay result in contact with the corresponding engaging portion tocomplete an electrically conductive path between the finger or thumb ofthe operator and the underlying interactive area 3.

Lastly, the above described configuration may further be modified in theabsence of the spring-load button portion to instead utilize a singleelectrically conductive element extending through the feature housing 80to make the continuous contact with the touch screen 2 duringinstallation of the smart device 1 into the locating feature 6. Each ofthe feature buttons 81 may accordingly be utilized as a form of touchfeature wherein merely touching an exposed portion of each of thefeature buttons 81 carries an electric charge through the axiallyextending portion of each of the feature buttons 81 to cause thelocalized disturbance of the capacitance of the touch screen 2 withrespect to the underlying one of the interactive areas 3.

The feature buttons 81 are configured to provide the attachment 10 withadditional inputs independent of the blow or draw actuation of theactuators 50, 60 associated with each of the ports 20, thereby allowingfor the attachment 10 to be controlled by both the mouth and the handsof the operator. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each of thefeature buttons 81 is associated with altering the reaction of the smartdevice 1 to the actuation of the blow and draw actuators 50, 60 based onwhatever application is running on the smart device 1 for generating thearray of the interaction areas 3 such as are displayed in FIG. 3.Specifically, the attachment 10 has a shape and configuration suitablefor emulating a harmonica or other mouth actuated musical instrument,hence the actuation of one or more of the feature buttons 81 may allowfor the attachment 10 to alter the manner in which the smart device 1generates sound based on the programming of the application being runduring use of the attachment 10. For example, each of the ports 20 maybe associated with two different notes or sounds (one blow note/soundand one draw note/sound), whereas the simultaneous or prior actuation ofone of the feature buttons 81 alters the simultaneous or subsequentnote/sound played by the smart device 1 upon actuation of one of theactuators 50, 60. Such a configuration may include one of the featurebuttons 81 associated with generating a sharp note, one of the featurebuttons 82 associated with generating a flat note, and another of thefeature buttons 81 associated with toggling the types of soundsgenerated by the smart device 1 via the corresponding application, suchas changing the instrument being emulated by the application running onthe smart device 1 from a library of stored instrument files. Oneskilled in the art should appreciate that any variety of differentsupplementary features may be activated via the use of the featurebuttons 81 in addition to those contemplated herein with respect to thediscussed musical application. As one non-limiting example, one or moreof the feature buttons 81 may act as a form of shift or alternate keyfor changing the type of input associated with the actuation of one ormore of the actuators 50, 60 during use of a language protocol, such ascapitalizing a letter associated with a keyboard application of theattachment 10 as mentioned briefly hereinabove.

The application running on the smart device 1 may also be configured toutilize the accelerometers/gyroscopes installed within the smart device1 to further manipulate the inputs to the smart device 1 via theactuation of the actuators 50, 60 and the feature buttons 81. Forexample, the tilting and/or translation of the smart device 1 may resultin the shifting of the octaves being played by the application runningon the smart device 1. As another example, a quivering motion of thesmart device 1 may result in a vibrato effect with respect to any notesor sounds being played by the smart device 1 via the correspondingapplication. As yet another example, the tilting or translation of thesmart device 1 during the playing of a note or sound via one of theactuators 50, 60 or feature buttons 81 may allow for a bending or othermodification of the instantaneously played note or sound. The smartdevice 1 and the corresponding application being run thereon mayaccordingly allow for a variety of complex notes and/or sounds to beplayed via use of the attachment 10 in order to more accurately emulatethe features of an instrument such as the aforementioned harmonica, andespecially a chromatic harmonica.

In use, the operator selects an application to run on the smart device 1that generates a desired array of the interactive areas 3 on the touchscreen 2. The application may be a musical application configured togenerate sounds or notes for emulating an instrument such as theharmonica as described herein. The smart device 1 is positioned relativeto the attachment 10 via the locating feature 6 in order to position thearray of the interactive areas 3 relative to each of the actuators 50,60 and each of the optionally provided feature buttons 81. Once thesmart device 1 is suitable positioned and secured, the operator holdsthe port assembly 12 in a manner contacting any corresponding conductiveelements 70, 72 outwardly exposed on the exterior of the port assembly12. The operator then places his or her mouth adjacent the first end 21of one or more of the ports 20 similar to a traditional harmonica.

As shown in FIG. 5, if the operator blows into the air passageway 40 ofone of the ports 20, the flow of the air through the air passageway 40in a direction from the first end 21 of the port 20 towards the secondend 22 thereof causes the stream of air to press against the secondsegment 54 of the blow actuator 50. Additionally, any air not flowingaround the second segment 54 through the air passageway 40 also tends topass through the corresponding opening 37 formed through the firstsidewall 31 to further cause the stream of the air to press against aninwardly facing surface of the free portion 57 of the first segment 53.The pressing of the air stream against the aforementioned surfacescauses a flexing of the blow actuator 50 about the pivot axis 58 in adirection towards the touch screen 2 and through the aperture 17 formedin the cap plate 15. The contact surface 55 formed by the exteriorcorner of the blow actuator 50 is pivoted into direct contact with thedesired one of the interactive areas 3. The indented portion 16 of thecap plate 15 provides a spacing in the height direction of the port 20to allow for the flexing of the blow actuator 50 without undesiredinterference being provided by the cap plate 15. The electric charge ofthe operator is conducted through the conductive element 70 and the blowactuator 50 to interact with the touch screen 2 at the interactive area3 in a manner similar to a normal touch of the touch screen 2 via thefinger of the operator. The note or sound associated with thecorresponding interactive area 3 is then played by the smart device 1 inaccordance with the programming of the application running on the smartdevice 1.

As shown in FIG. 6, the drawing of the air through the air passageway 40in the direction from the second end 22 of the port 20 towards the firstend 21 thereof causes the same general interaction with the drawactuator 60 for flexing the draw actuator 60 about the pivot axis 68thereof towards the touch screen 2. The corresponding contact surface 65engages the other of the pair of the interactive areas 3 associated withthe illustrated port 20 to once again cause the smart device 1 to playthe note or sound associated with the corresponding interactive area 3in accordance with the programming of the application running on thesmart device 1.

As discussed above, the operator may also selectively press one of thefeature buttons 81 or tilt/translate the smart device 1 in order tomanipulate any notes or sounds to be played by the smart device 1 priorto or during interaction with a desired one of the interactive areas 3displayed on the touch screen 1 via the selective actuation of one ofthe actuators 50, 60. The operator can accordingly closely mimic thesound of a harmonica as well as any of a variety of differentinstruments via use of the attachment 10 and the application running onthe smart device 1. The use of the feature buttons 81 and/or thetilting/translating of the smart device 1 may alternatively be utilizedto control other aspects of the application running on the smart device1, such as toggling through various options provided by thecorresponding application or changing the volume of the soundsgenerated, as non-limiting examples.

The use of the attachment 10 in conjunction with the smart device 1beneficially allows for the operator to utilize the computing featuresof the smart device 1 for creating notes and/or sounds that are notachievable with ordinary musical instruments. For example, the smartdevice 1 may have a library of possible instruments or sounds playableby the smart device 1 in reaction to the selection of one of theinteractive areas 3 of the touch screen 2, wherein a toggling of thesepossible instruments or sounds can be achieved via a selection by theoperator with respect to the instantaneously running softwareapplication. Furthermore, the smart device 1 may also include featuresallowing for the instantaneous modification of the notes or soundsplayable by the smart device 1 via the use of the smart deviceaccelerometers or the described feature buttons 81, whereby suchinstantaneous modifications are not easily achievable with a traditionalmusical instrument. Additionally, one particularly useful use of theattachment 10 and the smart device 1 may include one of thecommunication ports of the smart device 1 being coupled to a pair ofheadphones to be worn by the operator. The operator may utilize theheadphones to play the harmonica or whatever other instrument is to beemulated by the attachment 10 and the smart device 1 without having tobe heard by any other individuals adjacent the operator, therebyreducing the disturbance to others as may be common during thepracticing of a musical instrument.

Referring now to FIG. 7, a port 120 of an attachment 110 according toanother embodiment of the invention is disclosed. The attachment 110 issubstantially similar in general configuration to the attachment 10, butdiffers therefrom with respect to a configuration of a pair of actuators150, 160 disposed within each of the ports 20 forming a port assembly ofthe attachment 110. Only one of the modified ports 120 is shown incross-section in FIG. 7 due to the otherwise similar configuration andmethod of use of the attachment 110. The attachment 110 may include anynumber of the ports 120 in the same side-by-side rectilinear array asdisclosed in FIG. 1 with respect to the attachment 10, and may alsoinclude the feature housing 80 with the corresponding feature buttons 81in addition to the locating feature 6 having the opening 7 for receivingthe smart device 1 therein. The components or elements forming theattachment 110 that are substantially similar in form and purpose tothose of the attachment 10 are denoted with the same reference numeralshereinafter and are accordingly devoid of extensive descriptionhereinafter.

The port 120 largely differs from the port 20 by the inclusion of therelevant portions of each of the actuators 150, 160 directly within theair passageway 40 of the port 120, thereby eliminating the need for theinsulating cap plate 15 received over the outwardly facing surface ofthe first sidewall 31. The actuators 150, 160 are once again dividedinto a blow actuator 150 configured to be actuated by a blow action anda draw actuator 160 configured to be actuated by a draw action. Each ofthe pair of the actuators 150, 160 is once again formed from anelectrically conductive and resiliently flexible material in order tofacilitate the interactions with each of the interactive areas 3 of thecorresponding touch screen 2 and the flexing of the actuators 150, 160during a blow or draw action through the air passageway 40. Theactuators 150, 160 also include widths for occupying a majority of thewidth of the air passageway 40 to prevent undesired air passage aroundthe actuators 150, 160 in a manner limiting the effectiveness of theactuators 150, 160. The actuators 150, 160 are once again alternativelyreferred to as flex reeds due to the flexibility of the actuators 150,160 and the reed-like configurations thereof.

The blow actuator 150 includes a first end portion 151 forming anaffixed portion 156 of the blow actuator 150 that is secured in positionto the port 120 and configured to remain stationary during the actuationof the blow actuator 150. The first end portion 151 is electricallyconductively connected to the conductive element 70 of the attachment110 for conducting the electric charge of the operator to the blowactuator 150. In the illustrated embodiment, the first end portion 151is wrapped around the first sidewall 31 at the first end 21 of the port120 with a strip of the conductive portion 70 sandwiched between thefirst end portion 151 and the first sidewall 31, but any configurationof the first end portion 151 forming the affixed portion 156 and theconductive element 70 may be utilized without departing from the scopeof the present invention. The wrapping of the first end portion 151around the first sidewall 31 at the first end 21 of the port 120 mayalso facilitate the mouth of the operator directly electrically couplingthe operator to the blow actuator 150, as desired. In other embodiments,the first end portion 151 may be arranged entirely within the airpassageway 40 with the affixed portion 156 formed by coupling the firstend portion 151 to the first sidewall 31 via a suitable fastener oradhesive, as non-limiting examples.

The blow actuator 150 includes a free portion 157 that is able to flexrelative to a pivot axis 158 of the blow actuator 150 disposed at oradjacent the first end 21 of the port 120. The free portion 157 is benttwice to include a first segment 152, a second segment 153, and a thirdsegment 154. The first segment 152 extends primarily in the longitudinaldirection of the air passageway 40 while inclined at a slight acuteangle relative to the adjacent inwardly facing surface of the firstsidewall 31. The angle of inclination of the first segment 152 relativeto the inwardly facing surface of the first sidewall 31 may be between 1and 10 degrees, as desired. The second segment 153 extends transverselyfrom an end of the first segment 152 towards the second sidewall 32. Thesecond segment 153 may be arranged substantially perpendicular to thefirst segment 152. The inclination of the first segment 152 causes thetransition of the blow actuator 150 from the first segment 152 to thesecond segment 153 to be spaced from the first sidewall 31 with respectto the height direction of the port 120. The third segment 154 extendsfrom an end of the second segment 153 in a direction substantiallyopposite the direction of extension of the second segment 153 away fromthe first segment 152. The third segment 154 includes a greater lengththan the second segment 153 to cause the third segment 154 to extendpast the second segment 153 with respect to the height direction of theport 120. A distal end of the third segment 154 forms a contact surface155 of the blow actuator 150 configured for directly contacting thecorresponding interactive area 3 of the touch screen 2 during actuationof the blow actuator 150. The contact surface 155 may be disposed withinthe opening 37 formed in the first sidewall 31 prior to actuation of theblow actuator 150.

The draw actuator 160 includes the same configuration as the blowactuator 150 while mirrored symmetrically about a plane arrangedperpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the port 120, wherein theplane of symmetry extends between the two interactive areas 3 of thetouch screen 2 corresponding to each of the actuators 150, 160. The drawactuator 160 accordingly includes a first end portion 161 provided as anaffixed portion 166 of the draw actuator 160 and a free portion 167configured to flex about a pivot axis 168 of the blow actuator 160. Thefree portion 167 is bent twice to include a corresponding first segment162, second segment 163, and third segment 164, wherein a distal end ofthe third segment 164 forms a contact surface 165 of the draw actuator160 extending past the second segment 163.

The actuators 150, 160 operate in substantially identical fashion to theactuators 50, 60. For example, a blow action through the air passageway40 causes the flow of the air to press against each of the first segment152 and the second segment 153 for causing the blow actuator 150 to flextowards the first sidewall 31. The inclination and longitudinal exposureof the first segment 152 within the air passageway 40 aids in pivotingthe blow actuator 150 as an increased surface area of the blow actuator150 is exposed to the stream of the air striking the blow actuator 150.The pivoting of the blow actuator 150 causes the contact surface 155formed at the end of the third segment 154 to extend through the opening37 formed through the first sidewall 31 to make contact with theunderlying interactive area 3 of the touch screen 2. The draw actuator160 operates in identical fashion with respect to a flow of the airthrough the air passageway 40 in an opposing direction to that of theblow action, hence further description is omitted.

Referring now to FIGS. 8-11, a port 220 of an attachment 210 accordingto another embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. Theillustrated port 220 may be a portion of a port assembly including arectilinear array of a plurality of the ports 220 arranged side-by-sidein similar fashion to the configuration of the attachment 10 of FIG. 1,wherein any number of the ports 220 may be utilized. The attachment 210may also include a corresponding feature housing 80 with feature buttons81 formed to either or both sides of the port assembly, as desired. Asshown in FIGS. 9-11, the attachment 210 may further include a locatingfeature 6 for positioning the smart device 1 relative to the attachment210 in similar fashion to the attachment 10.

An underside of the port 220 showing an outwardly facing surface of thefirst sidewall 31 is shown in FIG. 8. The first sidewall 31 includes afirst engaging component 291 and a second engaging component 292extending therethrough, wherein each of the engaging components 291, 292extends through a corresponding opening 295 formed through the firstsidewall 31 from the inwardly facing surface thereof to the opposingoutwardly facing surface thereof. The first engaging component 291 andthe second engaging component 292 are spaced apart from each other withrespect to the longitudinal direction of the port 220 to position eachof the engaging components 291, 292 in axial alignment with one of thepair of the interactive areas 3 of the touch screen 2 forming one of therows of the interactive areas 3 when the smart device 1 is positionedrelative to the attachment 210 as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. A divisionbetween the pair of the interactive areas 3 associated with theillustrated port 220 accordingly falls directly between the spaced apartengaging components 291, 292.

Each of the engaging components 291, 292 is configured to normallyengage the axially aligned one of the interactive areas 3 when the smartdevice 1 is positioned relative to the attachment 210 with the touchscreen 2 facing towards the engaging components 291, 292. The engagingcomponents 291, 292 are formed from an electrically conductive materialconfigured to conduct an electric charge of the operator through theengaging components 291, 292 as explained in greater detail hereinafter.The engaging components 291, 292 may each substantially resemble the tipof a touch screen compatible stylus, as desired, in similar fashion toselect embodiments of the feature buttons 81 described hereinabove. Theengaging components 291, 292 may preferably be formed from a suitableelectrically conductive elastomer to allow for the engaging components291, 292 to be slightly resiliently depressed when the smart device 1 isreceived within the locating feature 6, thereby establishing continuouscontact with each of the engaging components 291, 292 while also aidingin securing the smart device 1 within the locating feature 6 via thespring action of the resiliency of the elastic material forming theengaging components 291, 292.

The engaging components 291, 292 are each shown as being substantiallycylindrical in shape, but any cross-sectional shape of the engagingcomponents 291, 292 may be utilized without departing from the scope ofthe present invention. Each of the engaging components 291, 292 extendsthrough the first sidewall 31 to include a first portion thereofprojecting beyond the outwardly facing surface of the first sidewall 31and a second portion thereof projecting beyond the inwardly facingsurface of the first sidewall 31 and into the air passageway 40. Thesecond portion of each of the engaging components 291, 292 is configuredto selectively engage an actuator 250 depending from the second sidewall32 between each of the engaging components 291, 292 as explained ingreater detail hereinafter.

As is apparent from review of FIGS. 9-11, the air passageway 40 issubdivided into a first segment 40 a disposed towards the first end 21of the port 220 and a second segment 40 b disposed towards the secondend 22 of the port 220, wherein the first segment 40 a includes thefirst engaging component 291 disposed therein and the second segment 40b includes the second engaging component 292 disposed therein. The firstsegment 40 a and the second segment 40 b may each include asubstantially similar width, but the second segment 40 b includes asubstantially greater height than the first segment 40 a to result inthe second segment 40 b having a larger cross-sectional flow areatherethrough. The second sidewall 32, the third sidewall 33, and thefourth sidewall 34 may include alternative shapes to those illustratedwith respect to the attachments 10, 110 in order to accommodate thediffering heights between the different segments 40 a, 40 b of the airpassageway 40. For example, the second sidewall 32 is illustrated asincluding a first segment 32 a towards the first end 21 of the port 220and a second segment 32 b towards the second end 22 thereof, wherein thefirst segment 32 a includes a substantially L-shaped configuration toaccommodate the increase in height of the air passageway 40 at thetransition from the first segment 40 a to the second segment 40 bthereof.

The actuator 250 is once again formed from an electrically conductiveand resiliently flexible strip of material. The material may be anysuitable material having the necessary characteristics, including ametallic material such as brass or carbon steel, as non-limitingexamples. In contrast to the previously disclosed actuators 50, 60, 150,160, the actuator 250 is formed from a substantially rectangular stripof the material devoid of any bends or turns. The actuator 250 mayinclude a width that extends across a majority of the width of the airpassageway 40 to prevent an excessive flow of the air around theactuator 250 during use of the attachment 210. The actuator 250 mayalternatively be referred to as a flex reed due to the flexibility andthe general configuration of the strip of material, as desired.

The actuator 250 extends longitudinally from a first end portion 251 toan opposing second end portion 252 with the actuator 250 arrangedperpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the port 220. The firstend portion 251 is affixed to at least one of the segments 32 a, 32 b ofthe second sidewall 32 and forms an affixed portion 256 of the actuator250. The first end portion 251 may be affixed to the second sidewall 32using any affixing method including the use of a fastener or anadhesive, or the affixed portion 256 may be sandwiched between theopposing segments 32 a, 32 b of the second sidewall 32, as desired. Theremainder of the actuator 250 including the second end portion 252thereof is freely disposed, wherein the second end portion 252 extendsto a position immediately between the inwardly projecting portions ofthe spaced apart engaging components 291, 292. The freely disposedportion of the actuator 250 is configured to pivot or flex about a pivotaxis 258 disposed at the transition from the affixed portion 256 to theremainder of the actuator 250. The second end portion 252 forms acontact surface 255 of the actuator 250 configured to be placed inselective contact with either of the adjacent disposed engagingcomponents 291, 292 depending on whether the operator utilizes a blowaction or a draw action with respect to the air passageway 40.

The difference in height between the first segment 40 a and the secondsegment 40 b of the air passageway 40 may be provided to aid infacilitating the flexing of the actuator 250 towards the first engagingcomponent 291 during a draw action performed by the operator.Specifically, the enlarged surface area of the actuator 250 exposedtowards the second end 22 of the port 220 allows for the ambient airentering the second segment 40 b of the air passageway 40 to provide agreater air pressure to the actuator 250 when a suction pressure isbeing generated within the first segment 40 a of the air passageway 40.However, the port 220 may operate in the manner described hereinaftereven in the event of the air passageway 40 having a consistentcross-sectional flow area along an entirety of a length thereof.

The conductive element 70 associated with the port 220 extends along theexposed surface of the first segment 32 a of the second sidewall 32 tomake electrically conductive contact with the affixed portion 256 of theactuator 250. The conductive element 70 once again provides anelectrically conductive pathway for conducting the electric charge ofthe operator to the actuator 250 during use of the attachment 210.

In use, a blow action causing air to flow through the air passageway 40from the first end 21 to the second end 22 of the port 220 as shown inFIG. 10 causes the flow of air to press against a side of the actuator250 facing towards the first end 21 for flexing the actuator 250 towardsthe second engaging component 292. The resulting contact between thecontact surface 255 of the actuator 250 and the second engagingcomponent 292 completes an electrical connection between the operatorand the second engaging component 292 via the conductive element 70 tocause the second engaging component 292 to electrically interactive withthe underlying interactive area 3 of the touch screen 2. A draw actioncausing air to flow through the air passageway 40 from the second end 22to the first end 21 of the port 220 as shown in FIG. 11 applies apressure to a side of the actuator 250 facing towards the second end 22of the port 220 to cause the actuator 250 to flex towards and contactthe first engaging component 291. The resulting contact between thecontact surface 255 of the actuator 250 and the first engaging component291 completes an electrical connection between the operator and thefirst engaging component 291 via the conductive element 70 to cause thefirst engaging component 291 to electrically interactive with theunderlying interactive area 3 of the touch screen 2. The attachment 210having the port 220 beneficially allows for both the blow and the drawactions of the operator to electrically interact with each of the pairof the interactive areas 3 via the use of only a single actuator 250having a simplified configuration.

Referring now to FIGS. 12-14, a port 320 of an attachment 310 accordingto yet another embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. Theport 320 includes many elements common to the port 20 and the port 220of the previously disclosed attachments 10, 210, hence description is ofthose common components is substantially limited hereinafter. The port320 may be one of an array of side-by-side arranged ports 320 forming aport assembly similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. Theattachment 310 may accordingly have a similar configuration as theattachment 10, including a corresponding locating feature 6 and featurebuttons 81 disposed within one or more feature housings 80, as desired.

The first sidewall 31 includes a first engaging component 391 and asecond engaging component 392 extending therethrough in similar fashionto the attachment 210, wherein the engaging components 391, 392 straddlethe division between adjacent ones of the interactive areas 3. Theengaging components 391, 392 are similarly formed from an electricallyconductive material that may also be resiliently compressible, such asan electrically conductive elastomer as used in stylus tips. The firstsidewall 31 may include an indentation 335 formed therein intermediatethe engaging components 391, 392 for providing access to side surfacesof the engaging components 391, 392, as illustrated in FIGS. 12-14.However, the first sidewall 31 may alternatively be provided devoid ofthe indentation 335, whereas the engaging components 391, 392 may beextended axially into the air passageway 40 to expose the side surfacesof the engaging components 391, 392.

The actuator 350 differs from each of the previously disclosed actuators50, 60, 150, 160, 250 by being provided as a stretchable andelectrically conductive membrane or diaphragm extending across anentirety of the cross-sectional flow area of the air passageway 40 suchthat the actuator 350 extends to each of the four sidewalls 31, 32, 33,34. The stretchable and electrically conductive material may be aconductive fabric or a conductive polymer, as non-limiting examples. Anyelectrically conductive material able to stretch/expand as describedhereinafter may be utilized for forming the actuator 350 withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

The actuator 350 may include flaps or the like extending throughopenings formed in at least two of the sidewalls 31, 32, 33, 34 foraffixing the actuator 350 across the air passageway 40 as describedabove. For example, the cross-sectional view shown in FIGS. 12-14illustrates one such flap 356 received within an indented portion of anoutwardly facing surface of the second sidewall 32, wherein the flap 356may be adhered to the second sidewall 32. The illustrated embodiment mayinclude two more of the flaps similarly extending through and adhered tothe third and fourth sidewalls 33, 34, as desired. The actuator 350 mayalternatively be sandwiched about a perimeter thereof between twoopposing segments forming the port 320, as desired. As one particularlybeneficial example, one strip of the electrically conductive andstretchable material may extend across all of the ports 320 forming theport assembly of the attachment 310, wherein the sandwiching together ofthe divided segments of each of the ports 320 forming the port assemblysegregates the single strip into a plurality of different actuators 350with each of the segregated portions corresponding to the interior ofone of the resulting air passageways 40.

The actuator 350 is once again placed in electrically conductive contactwith a conductive element 70 that is also exposed for contact with theoperator of the attachment 310. The conductive element 70 may beextended to contact one of the flaps 356 affixed to the port 320 asshown in FIGS. 12-14, but any configuration of the conductive element 70providing the necessary conductive path to the actuator 350 may beutilized without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The port 320 is shown as including an open second end 22, but the port320 may be provided with a closed second end 22 due to the manner inwhich the actuator 350 stretches in response to an increasing ordecreasing air pressure between the actuator 350 and the first end 21 ofthe port 320, so long as the portion of the air passageway 40 formedbetween the actuator 350 and the closed second end 22 includes a desiredpressure suitable for opposing the pressure generated to the other sideof the actuator 350.

In use, a blow action by the operator as shown in FIG. 13 increases thepressure within the air passageway 40 between the first end 21 of theport 320 and the actuator 350 to cause the actuator 350 to resilientlyexpand towards and contact the second engaging component 392, therebyforming the electrical interaction with the corresponding interactivearea 3. A draw action by the operator as shown in FIG. 14 decreases thepressure within the air passageway 40 between the first end 21 of theport 320 and the actuator 350 to form a partial vacuum therein, therebyallowing for the air disposed on the opposite side of the actuator 350to cause the actuator 350 to expand towards and contact the firstengaging component 391 due to the pressure difference generated on theopposing sides of the actuator 350.

The mouth actuated attachments 10, 110, 210, 310 for touch screens shownand described herein provides numerous benefits over a traditionalrendition of the same attachment not required to be used in combinationwith a smart device. First, the use of any of the attachments 10, 110,210, 310 allows for the user to utilize the attachment soundlessly so asnot to disturb others within the vicinity of the operator due to thecapability to utilize headphones or the like paired with thecorresponding smart device. Secondly, use of any of the disclosedattachments 10, 110, 210, 310 in combination with a smart device alsoallows for each of the attachments 10, 110, 210, 310 to be operated withthe use of a mobile application. This would provide for an easiereducational delivery and guidance in how to operate each of theattachments 10, 110, 210, 310 for novice and advanced users alike. Thistechnological capability also provides an option for handicapaccessibility, wherein a handicapped person may be able to operate theany of the attachments 10, 110, 210, 310 via mouth actuated actions.Lastly, dependent upon the functionality of the mobile application andthe capability of the smart device itself, it is foreseeable thatthrough the use of each of the attachments 10, 110, 210, 310, mostinstruments may be emulated through the use of the attachments 10, 110,210, 310 without the requirement of any hardware modifications. Suchversatility may be accomplished through a Musical Instrument DigitalInterface (MIDI) used in conjunction with the mobile application runningon the corresponding smart device.

From the foregoing description, one ordinarily skilled in the art caneasily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention and,without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make variouschanges and modifications to the invention to adapt it to various usagesand conditions.

What is claimed is:
 1. An attachment for a smart device having a touchscreen displaying an interactive area thereon, the attachmentcomprising: a port defining an air passageway therethrough; and anactuator element disposed at least partially within the air passagewayof the port, the actuator element configured to actuate upon a flow ofair passing through the air passageway, wherein actuation of theactuator element causes the actuator element to make direct contact withthe interactive area of the touch screen to form an electricalinteraction therewith.
 2. The attachment of claim 1, wherein theactuator element is placed in electrical communication with an operatorof the attachment.
 3. The attachment of claim 2, wherein the actuatorelement is in electrically conductive contact with a conductive elementexposed for contact with the operator.
 4. The attachment of claim 3,wherein the conductive element is routed from the actuator element to anouter surface of the port.
 5. The attachment of claim 1, wherein theattachment includes a plurality of ports arranged in a side-by-sidearray.
 6. The attachment of claim 1, wherein the air passageway extendsfrom an open first end of the port to an open second end of the port,wherein the open first end of the port is configured for abutment with amouth of an operator of the attachment.
 7. The attachment of claim 1,wherein the actuator element is formed from an electrically conductiveand resiliently flexible strip of material having at least a portionthereof extending across a flow cross-section of the air passageway. 8.The attachment of claim 7, wherein the actuator element flexes to makecontact with the interactive area of the touch screen in reaction to theflow of air passing through the air passageway.
 9. An attachment for asmart device having a touch screen displaying a first interactive areaand a second interactive area thereon, the attachment comprising: a portdefining an air passageway therethrough; and a first actuator elementdisposed at least partially within the air passageway of the port, thefirst actuator element configured to actuate upon a flow of air passingthrough the air passageway in a first direction, wherein actuation ofthe first actuator element causes the first actuator element to makedirect contact with the first interactive area of the touch screen toform an electrical interaction therewith; and a second actuator elementdisposed at least partially within the air passageway of the port, thesecond actuator element configured to actuate upon a flow of air passingthrough the air passageway in a second direction opposite the firstdirection, wherein actuation of the second actuator element causes thesecond actuator element to make direct contact with the secondinteractive area of the touch screen to form an electrical interactiontherewith.
 10. The attachment of claim 9, wherein the first actuatorelement is actuated as a result of a blow action through the airpassageway by an operator of the attachment and the second actuatorelement is actuated as a result of a draw action through the airpassageway by the operator of the attachment.
 11. An attachment for asmart device having a touch screen displaying a first interactive areaand a second interactive area thereon, the attachment comprising: a portdefining an air passageway therethrough; and a first actuator elementdisposed at least partially within the air passageway of the port, thefirst actuator element configured to actuate upon a flow of air passingthrough the air passageway in a first direction, wherein actuation ofthe first actuator element causes the first actuator element to makedirect contact with the first interactive area of the touch screen toform an electrical interaction therewith; and a feature buttonconfigured to cause an electrical interaction with the secondinteractive area of the touch screen.
 12. The attachment of claim 11,wherein the feature button is actuated by contact with a hand of anoperator of the attachment.
 13. The attachment of claim 12, wherein aportion of the feature button is in contact with the second interactivearea of the touch screen prior to the contact of the feature button withthe hand of the operator.
 14. The attachment of claim 11, wherein thefeature button is actuated by a depressing of the feature button by ahand of the operator.
 15. The attachment of claim 14, wherein thedepressing of the feature button causes the feature button to moveaxially towards the second interactive area to make contact therewith.